abbey (n.)

mid-13c., "monastery or convent devoted to religion and celibacy, headed by an abbot or abbess," from Anglo-French abbeie, Old French abaïe (Modern French abbaye), from Late Latin abbatia, from abbas (genitive abbatis); see abbot. At the dissolution of the monasteries, the name often was kept by abbey churches (as in Westminster Abbey) or estate houses that formerly were abbey residences.